May 16th 2016

boom baby. This week was goooood.. 

So! 1st off Olympia beat Motagua. they are in the championship hahahaha

DARIO IS THE MAN PEOPLE!!!! We went to Pichacho with him (the statue of Christ that looks over Tegucigalpa) on Saturday morning to give service and we got permission and Elder Hale went too and then we also had permission to play soccer with the ward because we have been working with the youth a little to reactivate and we brought inv. and Dario went and it was a blast.

Also we found another chosen one day this week (btw we worked like crazy this week! good tough hot rewarding week!) because we sat down because it was so hot and we were so tired and then we just said "buenas!" to see if someone would leave their house and this lady came out named Marisol, we talked with her and she totally went to church on sunday and we put a baptismal date for the 18th of june! yeyay! 

Interesting this week is that we taught plan of salvation so many times this week. It was so cool to see the people understand the importance of it and how Adam and Eve had such a big role in it and then how Christ literally saved us from the Fall. SO GRATEFUL!

Also Elder Hafoka from Australia and I had interchanges anddddd someone gave us tap water and we were dying until like 3 in the afternoon the next day. It was rough haha.

Last cool thought look up D and C 64:36 to see a promise to the descendants of Ephraim!

This week I am thankful (SO THANKFUL) for platanos with condensed milk, my comp, the miracles we saw this week, dario, activities of the church, my momma, my friends on missions, and the plan of salvation!! 

-- 

-Elder Alec Johnson

May 9th 2016

so I'm just going to send my journal entries to explain what happened this week.:) oh it was a good week.

This week I am thankful for tons of meetings and conferences, for the miracles we saw this week, for Elder Estrada, for my BEAUTIFUL MAMA J!!, for skype, for my fam, for answered prayers, for surprises from my Heavenly Father, for the power of the message of the Restoration, and for the fact that Jesus Christ and God the Father talked with a 14 year old boy and answered his prayer.

Love you guys!!
--

-Elder Alec Johnson

the church is true.

May 2nd 2016

AALLOOOHHHAAA

Hey everyone! Ok so first off great news..! FAM PORTILLO FROM JARDINES... YA THE HUSBAND IS GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT WEEK!!! YAYYYYYY!!!!!! A FAMILY!!!!! We are gonna ask permission to go.. I'm so happy!

We also had a great baptism on Sunday! Mr. Marlon! He is so pure! With such a great heart! He kinda has a speech impediment but he was the happiest guy in the world after coming out of the water. Oh how much joy one can have helping others see that they are children of our Heavenly Father and He has a plan for each and every one of them.

In other news on Wednesday we had consejo de lideres and it was great. Then of Friday President came to our zone meeting and it was definitely the best zone meeting I've had in my miss. Have I told you how much I love my comp?

We found a fam on Saturday night that is REALLY good.. We will see what happens there. not much to say! Life is tough. Life is good.

I'm thankful for great missionaries, for Pres. Ferman, for the best baleadas in the entire world by our house, for the Chiropractor once again!, for meetings, for my fam, for water, for baleadeas again, for good friends, for the mission, and for my Savior Jesus Christ who can heal me spiritually, physically, and emotionally. 

Keep on keepin on and have a great week! 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAYYY!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

-Elder Alec Johnson

April 25th 2016

Elder Bingham and I made up a phrase.

Rip it in half and put a chip on it- giddy up

Pretty good huh? Well this week was just fabulous. Have Elder Estrada as my companion and he is definitely my favorite companion I have had on the mission. Love the guy so much. And the zone is great! And IM OUT OF THE OFFICE!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! 

Not much more to say! Something cool that happened this week was that I got to bless the Sacrament with my comp in the most awesome ward and I felt so much at peace on Sunday. It was so nice. So nice. I love the Sacrament. I love this ward. I love my comp. And I sure love this Restored Gospel.

This week I am thankful for my fam, for machetes from my perfect mother, for the sacrament, for the package from mimi and papa!!, for my amazing new comp, for personal study and companionship study!, for the power of obedience!, for the Sacrament, for my fam, for the scrips, and the cleansing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Love you all! 

-Elder Alec Johnson

the church is true.

¨And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don´t believe in magic will never find it.¨-Roald Dahl

MATEO 5:14 SOIS LA LUZ DEL MUNDO!!!

Only had a couple hours to say bye to Robelio and my fam Osorto!!

New Comp!

April 17th 2016 Well uh...

SOO IM OUT OF THE OFFICE! mixed emotions. Very mixed emotions. My heart is kinda sad because Robelio gets baptized this week and Gustavo is so close. And I was 100 percent sure I was dying here. But I wil train Elder Storrs this week which is a whole other story, but allí vamos.

Going back as a ZL to a place called Santa Fe in country! With Elder Estrada. Pretty excited! He is from Guat and super cool so thats good!

This is the talk of the week.!

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1973/04/yellow-canaries-with-gray-on-their-wings?lang=eng

One of the greats by Pres Monson!

This week was a dyc 15 week. I love DyC 15 so much. Love it Love it Love it. Just think of all the things God knows. He is perfect at playing basketball. He knows how to create worlds. He is the perfect painter. He knows how to create humans, He knows all the math equations ever even imagined. ANDDDD the most important thing he tells us is to preach the Gospel. so sweet.

Well everything is so crazy and we have so much to do so I have to go BUT I will let you know next week about the new area! Love y'all!

This week im thankful for changes, for humility, for ALL I LEARNED IN THE OFFICE AND NUEVO LOARQUE, my fam, elder Burnham one of the funniest comps ever haha, elder bingham, elder de la rosa, Gustavo and Waldina and Freddy and Marlin Osorto, all the people I got to meet here, all my friends ever in the entire world, bananas, peanut butter, beans, the opportunity I had to drive in Honduras!, that I finish my mission in a small house with no hot water haha, SVU dynamic duo elder Hill, and the Savior because he makes me stronger! 

-Elder Alec Johnson

April 13th 2016

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THE JAZZ MADE IT TO THE PLAYOFFS!!! ALSOOO the mango was the forbidden fruit I decided this week. It couldn´t have been the pineapple because the pineapple grows in it´s own brush/shrub thingy and since mango is the 2^ndbest… It was the mango.

This week was full of little decisions. Small decisions that really can change the day and as Pres. Monson says, even our destiny. It was a good week.:) We had 5/1 at church and it was just a tough, good missionary week. A lot of things happened this week that made me realize that little decisions really do make ALL the difference. And the Lord gives us those decisions to see if we can ´choose the right´. There´s a quote I read by Pres. Monson that says, 

“You do not find truth groveling through error. Truth is found by searching, studying, and living the revealed word of God. We learn truth when we associate with truth. We adopt error when we mingle with error.” 

We all know how we feel when there´s a hard choice before us, maybe it´s not the worst thing we can do, but we choose the wrong. We know how that feels and it stinks when you offend the Spirit by doing that. But we also know what it´s like to make that right decision and immediately after you feel God´s approval and feel joy for choosing the right. There were a couple times where I felt God´s approval after some decision making this week and I just knew He was glad that I did the right. Forgiveness is just great as well. Because I definitely have needed a lot of forgiveness these 21 months. Just fabulous really that we can be forgiven for all the silly and dumb things we humans do. And also how we can forgive people. I love that too. My scrip of the week actually has to do with that. Really cool doctrine how we can retain (“to keep in possession or use”) a remission of our sins.  

Mosiah 4:26

"26 And now, for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."

Love the Gospel. Love that I´m not perfect and that it brings me to humility and brings me to my Savior every time I slip up and depend on His perfect Atonement. And then I am able to fully repent, forget, move on with faith and be better the next time. And sometimes I slip up and slip up again but as long as we are trying and giving our all to this restored Gospel and our Master Jesus Christ, that´s all that matters.:)

Oh and ROVELÍO PEOPLE!!! HE RULES. HE JUST RULES. Taught him about the restoration (he is already been to church twice and still haven´t taught him that because he has been gone!) and he accepted everything and then we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he was just like "Well we sometimes drink coffee here but it´s already written and it´s what we need to do so we´re gonna stop." and Elder Burnham and I just like sat there haha he´s ready to roll

This week I am thankful for nights in the hammock just thinking about life and being so grateful to my Father in Heaven for all that he has given me, music and the powerful testimony it gives of this Gospel, Mr. Rovelio and that he is on track to be baptized!. He is so stinkin pilas, for candy (I really do like sweets a lot), a really weird, long, short week, that in 3 months today I will be hugging my sweet dear mother #notbaggyjustafact, for basketball, for being in the office, for the power of love, for the words of Elder Holland, Elder Duncan, Elder Peña, the best dad ever Jeremy Paul, for ties, OH AND FOR THE STINKIN FACT THAT HERMANA PORTILLO GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY WHATTT!!!, the members here, our investigators, when you do a soccer move in the street when a ball comes rolling and all the kids in the street freak out and yell hahaha, anddd I´m thankful because God knows who I am.

Have a greattt week!

-Elder Alec Johnson

99 say whaaaaaaa April 5th 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TUJVLFDfRY

WELL HERES THE LINK FOR US! HAHAHA SO FUNNY. They start talking about people from around the world come to see las alfombras at like 1:37 and then watch the rest hahah too good. Totally got my tongue twisted and couldn´t say a part hahah all the elders made fun of me but we totally look like tourists in the video which stinks because we should never look like that andddd we were giving out tarjetas of the hallelujah campaign sooo we were totally being missionaries for the 50 min we were there… Funny stuff.

First news of this amazing miracle week! This morning while we were reading the scrips right before we left to the office we get a call from a unknown number and it was Emelina!!! We have been trying to call her for weeks but her phone has been off and she called us! And it´s because she has been in this way far away village/town where her fam lives and she has to climb this hill to get service ha! She told us she has been reading the Book of Mormon with her sister Karina and to her mom and she told us she wants to be baptized!! What!? She said with all this stuff that happened with her sister Evelyn she said it´s time..! The thing is there is no church even close where she lives but she said she is coming back to Tegucigalpa soon so heck yes! Like what the heck! So she doesn´t know where she is gonna move but doesn´t even matter! Such a stinkin cool story… Oh and kinda sad is that Evelyn, the one that got chased and stuff moved to Copan and that´s far away but we´re gonna send the reference to the elders out there in San Pedro! That just happened like 3 hours ago!

Sooo this week. First off thanks to Briggy babe for his great talks on the Sacrament. Cool stuff I learned and was able to think about this week.

Another thing I wanted to touch on before talking about conference! Let´s talk about sun-suckers. Now what is a sun-sucker? A sun-sucker is someone who sucks sun out of other people. They do not give confidence to others anddd they (excuse my language) kinda suck. Sun-suckers really are not fun to be around soooo I invite everyone to just let everyone be as they are and just love everyone for who they are and give them confidence! Good job.

Oh and had the best april fools joke to my mother hahhaha ask her about that one.

Ok! So miracles and conference… So last Sunday we were contacting and we knocked on this random door and we found this 65 year old man named Rodelío… HE IS THE MAN! Oh my gosh he´s the coolest guy. He has lived there for 32 years and never talked to missionaries and is jobless right now but he wants to be baptized the 23^rd! We were taught by Pres. Fortuna (WHO NOW IS AN AREA SEVENTY PEOPLE!! WE ALL CALLED IT!!!) to present two baptismal dates so the person could choose which date. We presented for the 16^th and 23^rd and he chose the 23^rd! Then he was all nice and ready early in the morn to go to conference and after his face was just glowing! Just so happy and smiley! And he said, “Aqui me quedo!” which means “I´m staying here!” haha it was great! Now we just gotta teach him all the commandments! He reminds me of Gustavo from La Vega!

Next miracle. Mr. Gustavo! This man..! I love him and his family with all my heart. They are the best. By the way it was Freddy’s and Elder Burnham’s bday yesterday so they invited us and the Bishops fam and another fam for the party and it was so great! Perfect for him! But anyways he went to conf on Sunday morn but he wanted to go to the Priesthood Session but since he is in charge of all the power in Teguc and Danli, the lights went out in Danli so he was getting phone calls all day long so he couldn´t go. But we went like at 8:45 because they live right by us and he asked us what the Prophet taught in the Priesthood session and everyone asked why it was so short and why Pres. Monson didn´t talk so much but get this. We told him that basically the prophet said “Be faithful. Be worthy.” And he stopped and thought for a second and then told us a story that he never ever has told anyone.. only his mom when it happened. So years back when he was going through some trials and just wanted answers from God to help guide him what he should do in life he was in an apartment and he prayed and went to bed and shut off the t.v. In the middle of the night he heard the t.v. turn on with all the static and then he said he didn´t know what church but a Christian message turned on and all he heard was “Sea fiel. Sea digno.” “Be faithful. Be worthy.” And that was his answer…! LIKE WHAT THE HECK! HECK YES!! We are just waiting for him to tell us when he wants to get baptized…….! Ah!!

Also called Brayan from Jardines yesterday and he is in stinkin 2^nd Nephi right now! Like so much joy is in my heart for him… I love him so much. When all is said and done if it was only him that the Lord used me to help in these 2 years, I would be content. He´s the greatest.

But about conference… What more can I say? Besides the fact that I just kept crying in the first sesh because of the music and how they would show Pres. Monson and the Quorum of the 12, it was the best. More than anything I was able to strengthen my testimony of the sacredness of their calling and I know with no doubt that God loves us and puts those men at the helm of this church to guide us.

This week was much needed. So thankful for this week. My heart is so full.

I am thankful for the prophet and the messages that were given this week, for protein, for Elder Chavez and Elder Richins, for change, for love, for peace, for THE CHIROPRACTOR WHO IS THE BEST EVER, for the ability to forgive and forget and leave it there, for bdays and cake!, for the Bishop, for new miracles!, for my fam!, for running, for Rodelío, for the prophet Joseph Smith, for pictures of Christ, and for the Atonement… for the Atonement that makes us so much better, that lifts us from the depths of all depths, that literally gives us hope for a better day tomorrow.

Love you allllll!!

-Elder Alec Johnson